Personality and the Final Project

Gang violence is a social issue that even the political leaders of today try to turn away from , many have tried to say that gang violence is nothing but just thugs harming their own thugs or that it is a cultural issue that is inevitable in a country were every culture meets and turf wars are part of the package . The sad thing about gang violence is that most gang members are men barely out of their teens or young adolescents who have joined gangs because it provided them the safety and a sense

of affiliation that they could not find in their own homes . The final project will be on how former gang members will be motivated and helped to go back to their family and assume normal lives . Gangs have strict codes and rules and often it replaces the values and moral compass the child is taught by his /her parents , the school and society thus a former gang member will be expected to have difficulty in going back to their old lives . Discussions on the importance of motivation and goal achievement for program designs that would help former gang member 's lead better lives have made it known that if the motivation is not intrinsically rooted and if they don 't believe in the goal and their capacity to achieve that goal , then the intervention program would not be effective (Kasser Ryan ,1996 . Thus , it is a necessity that the concept of motivation and goal achievement will be assessed and examined in terms of the personality of the gang members

Personality is defined as the feelings , beliefs and awareness of himself (Kasser Ryan ,1996 . Thus it means that it is the characteristics , the behavioral patterns , the mannerisms and the identity of the person as a whole . Personality theories have stressed the practical implications of studying personality in terms of traits , traits are the specific attribute or characteristic that is dominant in the person , for example , am outgoing personality would always be good at befriending other people . Now , one 's personality is said to be stable and enduring , it may change in some respect , but it would basically be true to the person all throughout his life . If the personality of the individual is positive and optimistic then motivating them to work for a goal or objective will not be difficult because the person is already inherently up to the challenge But if the individual has a negative personality a defeatist and a pessimist , then getting them to feel excited about changing and becoming better persons will not be as easy . Personality traits also seem to be related to the pursuit of happiness , that is , an enduring purpose of man in this life is to be happy , and happiness is a state of being where everything is good and positive (Csikszentmihalyi Hunter , 2003 Former gang members obviously were not happy with their old lives which are why they joined gangs , but helping them realize that being able...